weak

See also: Weäk

weak - English

Alternative forms

weake (obsolete)

Pronunciation

enPR: wēk, IPA: /wiːk/
Homophone: week

Adjective

weak (comparative weaker, superlative weakest)

Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability.
- The child was too weak to move the boulder.
- They easily guessed his weak computer password.
Unable to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain.
- a weak timber; a weak rope
Unable to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable.
- weak resolutions; weak virtue
Dilute, lacking in taste or potency.
- We were served stale bread and weak tea.
(grammar) Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including:
1. (Germanic languages, of verbs) Regular in inflection, lacking vowel changes and having a past tense with -d- or -t-.
2. (Germanic languages, of nouns) Showing less distinct grammatical endings.
3. (Germanic languages, of adjectives) Definite in meaning, often used with a definite article or similar word.
(chemistry) That does not ionize completely into anions and cations in a solution.
- a weak acid; a weak base
(physics) One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay.
(slang) Bad or uncool.
- This place is weak.
(mathematics, logic) Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)
Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.
Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained.
- The prosecution advanced a weak case.
Lacking in vigour or expression.
- a weak sentence; a weak style
Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble.
(stock exchange) Tending towards lower prices.
- a weak market; wheat is weak at present
(photography) Lacking contrast.
- a weak negative

Synonyms

(lacking in force or ability): feeble, frail, powerless, vincible, assailable, vulnerable
(lacking in taste or potency): dilute, watery
See also weak

Antonyms

(lacking in force or ability): healthy, powerful, robust, strong, invincible
(lacking in taste or potency): potent, robust, strong
(chemistry: that does not ionize completely): strong

Derived terms

bring it weak
electroweak
miliweak
nonweak
overweak
piss-weak
superweak
the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
weak copyleft
weak declension
weak force
weak in the knees
weak interaction
weak nuclear
weak reference
weak side
weak sister
weak sore
weak spot
weak tea
weak typing
weak verb
weak-handed
weak-hearted
weak-kneed
weak-minded
weak-side
weak-willed
weaken
weaker sex
weaker vessel
weakest link
weakfish
weakino
weakish
weakling
weakly
weakness
weakon
weaksauce
weakside
weaksome
weaky

Translations

Afrikaans: swak (af)
Albanian: i lig (sq),e ligë (sq), i dobët (sq)
Amharic: ደካማ (däkama), ለዋሳ (läwasa)
Arabic: ضَعِيف‎ (ḍaʕīf)
- Egyptian Arabic: ضعيف‎ (ḍaʕīf)
- Moroccan Arabic: عيّان‎ (ʕəyyæn)
Armenian: թույլ (hy) (tʿuyl), տկար (hy) (tkar)
Aromanian: slab
Asturian: débil
Azerbaijani: zəif (az), gücsüz
Bashkir: көсһөҙ (köshöð)
Basque: ahul
Belarusian: сла́бы (be) (sláby)
Bengali: দুর্বল (bn) (durbol)
Bikol Central: maluya (bcl)
Breton: gwan (br)
Bulgarian: слаб (bg) (slab)
Burmese: အားနည်း (my) (a:nany:)
Catalan: feble (ca), dèbil (ca)
Chechen: гӏийла (ğiila), мела (mela)
Chinese:
- Cantonese: 弱 (joek⁶), 虛弱／虚弱 (heoi¹ joek⁶)
- Mandarin: 弱 (zh) (ruò), 微弱 (zh) (wēiruò), 軟弱／软弱 (zh) (ruǎnruò)
Corsican: debuli (co)
Crimean Tatar: quvetsiz, zayıf
Czech: slabý (cs)
Dalmatian: débol
Danish: svag, veg
Dutch: zwak (nl), slap (nl)
Esperanto: malforta
Estonian: nõrk
Faroese: veikur (fo)
Finnish: heikko (fi)
French: faible (fr), débile (fr)
Friulian: debul
Galician: débil (gl), feble, fraco, frouxo
Georgian: სუსტი (susṭi), უძლური (uʒluri), უღონო (uɣono)
German: schwach (de)
Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (unmahteigs)
Greek: αδύναμος (el) (adýnamos)
- Ancient: ἀσθενής (asthenḗs), μῶλυς (môlus)
Guaraní: kangy
Hebrew: חַלָּשׁ‎ (he) (khalásh)
Higaonon: mahuyang
Hindi: दुर्बल (hi) (durbal), निर्बल (hi) (nirbal), कमज़ोर (kamzor), अशक्त (hi) (aśakt)
Hungarian: gyenge (hu), gyönge (hu)
Icelandic: veikur (is)
Ido: febla (io), debila (io)
Indonesian: lemah (id)
Irish: lag, aimhneartach, anbhann, creatach, crólag, cróloite, deibhleánach, éadaingean, éagrua, éalangach, éidréan, fann, féigh, foríseal, lagbhríoch, leamh, lobhrach, maoth, meath-, meathánta, sleaiceáilte, slim, tais, tim, tláith, tréith, triamhain
Italian: debole (it)
Japanese: 弱い (ja) (よわい, yowai)
Kazakh: әлсіз (kk) (älsız), күшсіз (küşsız)
Khmer: ខ្សោយ (km) (khsaoy)
Korean: 약하다 (ko) (yakhada)
Kyrgyz: күчсүз (ky) (küçsüz), алсыз (ky) (alsız)
Lao: ຍໍ່ແຍ່ (nyǭ nyǣ), ບໍ່ແຂງແຮງ (bǭ khǣng hǣng)
Latgalian: sluobs
Latin: debilis, imbecillus, languidus, infirmus, invalidus
Latvian: vārgs, vājš
Lithuanian: silpnas (lt)
Macedonian: слаб (slab)
Malay: lemah (ms)
Maltese: dgħajjef
Maori: tahō
Mbyá Guaraní: kangy
Mongolian: сул дорой (sul doroj), муу (mn) (muu), дорой (mn) (doroj)
Norman: faibl'ye
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: svak (no), veik
Occitan: feble (oc), debil
Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: слабъ (slabŭ)
- Glagolitic: ⱄⰾⰰⰱⱏ (slabŭ)
Old English: untrum
Pashto: ايڼ‎ (iṇ)
Persian: ضعیف‎ (fa) (za'if), نزار‎ (fa) (nezâr)
Plautdietsch: schwak
Polish: słaby (pl)
Portuguese: fraco (pt), débil (pt), frouxo (pt)
Romanian: slab (ro), debil (ro), lânced (ro)
Romansch: debel, flaivel, fleivel, flevel
Russian: сла́бый (ru) (slábyj)
Sanskrit: निर्बल (sa) (nirbala), दुर्बल (sa) (durbala), अशक्त (sa) (aśakta)
Santali: ᱚᱵᱳᱞ (ôbol)
Sardinian: débbile, débbili, díbbile
Scottish Gaelic: lag
Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: слаб
- Roman: slab (sh)
Sicilian: dèbbuli (scn), dèbuli (scn), dèbbili (scn), dèbili (scn)
Slovak: slabý
Slovene: šíbek (sl), slàb (sl) (archaic)
Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: słaby
Spanish: débil (es), feble, flaco (es), flojo (es)
Swahili: dhaifu
Swedish: svag (sv), vek (sv)
Tagalog: mahina
Tajik: заиф (tg) (zayif), низор (nizor)
Tatar: көчсез (köçsez)
Thai: อ่อนแอ (th) (ɔ̀ɔn-ɛɛ), แอ (th) (ɛɛ), อ่อน (th) (ɔ̀ɔn)
Tibetan: སྐྱོ་པོ (skyo po)
Tok Pisin: hanggre
Turkish: zayıf (tr), güçsüz (tr)
Turkmen: asgyn (tk), gowşak, gujursyz, ejiz
Ukrainian: слабки́й (slabkýj), сла́бий (slábyj)
Urdu: دربل‎ (durbal), کمزور‎ (kamzor), اشکت‎ (aśakt)
Uyghur: ئاجىز‎ (ajiz), كۈچسىز‎ (küchsiz)
Uzbek: kuchsiz (uz), zaif (uz)
Venetian: debol, debole, debolo, debełe
Vietnamese: yếu (vi)
Walloon: flåwe (wa), fwebe (wa)
Welsh: gwan (cy)
Yiddish: שוואַך‎ (shvakh)
Zhuang: nyieg

Arabic: ضَعِيف‎ (ḍaʕīf)
Armenian: թույլ (hy) (tʿuyl)
Basque: ahul
Bengali: পাতলা (patola)
Czech: slabý (cs)
Dutch: flauw (nl)
Finnish: laimea (fi), mieto (fi)
German: schwach (de)
Guaraní: kangy
Hungarian: gyenge (hu), híg (hu)
Irish: lag, caol, éadrom, tanaí
Japanese: 薄い (ja) (うすい, usui)
Kabuverdianu: xalalá, lébi
Portuguese: fraco (pt)
Russian: сла́бый (ru) (slábyj)
Scottish Gaelic: lag
Swedish: svag (sv)
Tagalog: matabang
Turkish: açık (tr) (tea), hafif (tr) (alcohol, coffee, tabacco)
Ukrainian: слабки́й (slabkýj)
Welsh: gwan (cy)

Dutch: zwak (nl)
Finnish: säännöllinen (fi), heikko (fi)
German: schwach (de)
Greek: αδύνατος (el) (adýnatos)
Hungarian: gyenge (hu)
Irish: lag
Japanese: 弱変化の (じゃくへんかの, jakuhenka no)
Latin: ^{(please verify)} legitimus (la)
Portuguese: fraco (pt)
Russian: сла́бый (ru) (slábyj), пра́вильный (ru) (právilʹnyj)
Swedish: svag (sv)

Armenian: թույլ (hy) (tʿuyl)
Czech: slabý (cs)
Finnish: heikko (fi)
Hungarian: gyenge (hu)
Ido: debila (io)
Japanese: 弱い (ja) (よわい, yowai)
Russian: сла́бый (ru) (slábyj)
Spanish: débil (es)
Swedish: svag (sv)

Finnish: huono (fi)
German: (colloquial) out (de), unschön (de), häßlich (de), uninteressant (de)
Hungarian: gyenge (hu), gyér (hu)
Japanese: ださい (dasai)
Russian: сла́бый (ru) (slábyj) (colloquial), отстой (ru) (otstoj) (slang)

Anagrams

Wake, wake, weka

weak - West Frisian

Pronunciation

IPA: /vɪə̯k/

Adjective

weak

(Clay) soft

Inflection

Inflection of weak
uninflected	weak
inflected	weake
comparative	weaker
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		weak	weaker	it weakst it weakste
indefinite	c. sing.	weake	weakere	weakste
	n. sing.	weak	weaker	weakste
	plural	weake	weakere	weakste
definite		weake	weakere	weakste
partitive		weaks	weakers	—

Alternative forms

wêk (Wood)